Movie-Making in the 1930s

To be perfectly upfront, it took me years to get into films of the 1930s.  Oh sure, I liked some movies from that time but I generally just found them to be so old, mostly in black and white and kind of corny. In some ways, a bit of that still feels the same but let there be no doubt I have come to appreciate the decade. Quite a number of the movies are classics, a large number of actors remain among the most memorable of all-time and the decade undeniably had some bouts with history.

The year 1930 started what is known as Hollywood's Golden Age (and continued through 1949) and brought about a number of firsts, huge firsts.  Three that come immediately to mind are the introduction of sound and color and censorship (the Production Code).

The first sound movie (and it was only a small part) was actually in 1927 with Al Jolson's The Jazz Singer but once the curiosity wore off, it was back to silent films. Sound was not considered to be anything more than a curiosity and not much came of it until 1930 and even then there weren't a lot of the so-called talkies.  One downer of talkies was that a number of silent film stars (John Gilbert comes immediately to mind) lost their careers because their speaking voices were so dreadful.  Astonishing as it may seem, it took a while for talkies to truly catch on.

The same might be said of films made in color.  Technically, the first color film was made by the Edison Company in 1897 and the Brits are credited with some color work in 1902.  A three-strip Technicolor process was developed around 1932 and used in a few films in the mid-30s.  It took a few more years to fully develop Technicolor and some would consider Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz, both 1939, as being the first films to feature that process.

Then there's the Production Code, the keeper of the country's morals.  If one has seen some of the silent films in the 1920s, one would quickly realize there were few guidelines in what one could do on film. Then came a series of scandals... the murder of director William Desmond Taylor and the Fatty Arbuckle rape case to name two... and there were those who became alarmed at the cesspool of low morals and standards in the modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah called Hollywood.  Some called it Hollyweird.  No one was more flummoxed than the Catholic church who sent emissaries to talk to Hollywood bigwigs.

It was all put in the hands of Will Hays, a Presbyterian elder, to rehabilitate Hollywood. Under the microscope were such issues as profanity, nudity, sexual perversion, sex hygiene, drugs, miscegenation, white slavery, scenes of childbirth, discussion of or viewing children's sex organs, ridicule of the clergy and willful offense to any nationality, race or creed. Hays was bolstered by the fact that in 1915 the Supreme Court unanimously decreed that free speech did not apply to the movies. Hays and his moral watchdogs might have expressed some righteous indignation when their Motion Picture Distributors of America was established in 1930 but nothing much happened because there was no way to enforce it. Finally a few states began saying that if a film didn't pass inspection with the code, it would not open in theaters in their states.  By the time Clark Gable paraded around a motel room in his undershirt with an unmarried Claudette Colbert present in It Happened One Night in 1934, the censorship code began to take effect.

As far as which studios were ruling in the 30s, MGM, of course, led the pack.  The power this studio wielded, both in and out of Hollywood, was staggering.  Residents Clark Gable and his frequent costar, Myrna Loy, were declared the King and Queen of Hollywood.  The accolade, of course, was more of a gimmicky thing to honor the revenue the two produced, together and separately.

Other studios that were making their mark were Paramount (to be showcased while we're in this decade), Warner Bros, RKO and after it was established in a merger in 1935, 20th Century Fox. Columbia, Universal and United Artists were making some noises but they were largely a part of the B team during this decade. Disney was a specialized place handling animation.

Others not mentioned so far in this peace who helped the decade become part of The Golden Age were Greta Garbo, Carole Lombard, Marlene Dietrich, Tyrone Power, Robert Taylor, Barbara Stanwyck, Gary Cooper, Charlie Chaplin, W. C. Fields, James Cagney, Paul Muni, Vivien Leigh, Norma Shearer, Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis, Bing Crosby, Astaire and Rogers, Joan Crawford, Mickey Rooney, Errol Flynn, The Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy... and so, so many more.  Most would shine just as brightly in the 1940s. Some not mentioned will have their own posts while we're moseying through the 30s.

In big-screen features, we saw for the first time Katharine Hepburn, John Wayne, Johnny Weissmuller, Helen Hayes, The Three Stooges, Popeye and Donald Duck, among others.  In 1937 Disney's Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs became the first feature-length animated movie.

The cost of a movie ticket in 1933 was 25 cents but it was too high for many.  For some, if it took everything they could muster, they would scrape together 25 pennies for a trip to the movies. Entertainment was needed more than ever.  The Great Depression, which raged throughout the 30s, hit Hollywood hard like everywhere else. Well, ok, MGM wasn't hurting so much but at most studios the budgets and staff were slashed.  The closing of many theaters around the country was not so good for profits.  To increase attendance incentives were introduced... giveaways, contests, attractions, whatever it took. Double features became popular.

The studios had a bit of a balancing act in the product they put out. They needed to reflect the times, as is always the case in any decade, while knowing that escapist entertainment had to, perhaps, be upped a bit.  

Most escaping was done via westerns and musicals.  Not only did the public have a fondness for westerns but they were relatively inexpensive to make.  Musicals cost more (oh, Busby Berkeley, we thank you) but c'mon, talk about happy.  Cares evaporated for 80 minutes or so.  In this same vein came a real staple of the 1930s, the screwball comedy.  (The final film we will review for the 30s is the best screwball comedy.  Any ideas what it could be?)  For some, these laughfests were about the only laughter folks got.  Escapist fare of another form was the proliferation of horror films. Frankenstein did his best to scare The Depression away.  On a more serious note, historical biographies popped up everywhere.  Most obviously had the running theme of people overcoming adversity.

Then there were the other films, those that reflected the realism and cynicism of the times.  Over at Columbia, director Frank Capra was making what some called Capra-corn (oooh that cynicism), homespun tales of the common man... our coworkers, neighbors, family members... hmmm, us. Reminiscent of the times and attitudes are his films, again, It Happened One Night (1934), and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) and although in 1941, Meet John Doe.  Frank Capra was not the only one doing this kind of work but I found him the one who moved me the most.

As American movies began to gain more prestige, Hollywood wanted to increase that in at least two ways.  One was acquiring the rights to foreign language films by noted European directors as well as our introduction to England's Alfred Hitchcock. The second movement was acquiring the rights to famous novels such as Treasure Island, Vanity Fair, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Barretts of Wimpole Street, Wuthering Heights, Captains Courageous and more. 

It is appropriate that we close this post with a special mention of 1939, considered the single greatest year in American movies. The glittering achievements of films from that year, both in quality and ticket sales, aided greatly in labeling the 30s (and 40s) as The Golden Age.  It is an impressive array... here is a partial list, which starts with the nine of the 10 films Oscar-nominated for best picture: the aforementioned Wuthering Heights, one of the most famous of them all, The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach, Dark Victory, Goodbye Mr. Chips, Love Affair, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Ninotchka and Of Mice and Men.  Also consider Golden Boy, Gunga Din, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, In Name Only, Destry Rides Again, Dodge City, Made for Each Other, Intermezzo, The Privates Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, Only Angels Have Wings, Young Mr. Lincoln and The Women.

That 10th Oscar-nominated film of 1939, and the ultimate winner, is, of course, Gone With the Wind.  From the American epic, historical romance point of view, it is nearly unrivaled. It took its two stars, Vivien Leigh (whom most Americans barely knew), and Clark Gable, and secured their positions in the Hollywood pantheon  You know, of course, it was the top-grossing film of the decade-- and for several more decades until 1965 when The Sound of Music finally bested it. I've heard that with adjusting for inflation, it is still the top-grossing American film of all-time.  It is in the top 10 of the American Film Institute's 100 best American films. I also accept that the film has its detractors.




Next posting:
Let's get into the 1930s